High power light emitting diode package and method of producing the same

ABSTRACT

A high power Light Emitting Diode (LED) package and a method of producing the same. The high power LED package according to the present invention includes a plurality of light emitting diode chips, a first lead frame with the light emitting diode chips mounted thereon, and a second lead frame disposed at a predetermined interval from the first lead frame. The LED package also includes a package body fixing the first and second lead frames and bonding wires for electrically connecting the plurality of LED chips. The package body includes at least one first reflecting part separately surrounding each of the plurality of LED chips with upward-inclined inner side walls thereof and a second reflecting part surrounding the entire plurality of LED chips with an upward-inclined inner side wall thereof.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2006-0064439 filed on Jul. 10, 2006, in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a high power Light Emitting Diode (LED)package and a method of producing the same and, more particularly, to ahigh power LED package which can effectively increase the lightextraction efficiency, and a method of producing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, LEDs, which convert electric signals to light usingcharacteristics of compound semiconductors, have advantages such aslonger lifetime than other types of light emitters, low driving voltageand low power consumption. In addition, LEDs have a high response rate,high resistance to impacts, and readily accommodate miniaturization andlight-weight applications.

With the recent trend of miniaturization and slimmer designs ofinformation communication devices, resistors, condensers, noise filtersand the like are more and more miniaturized these days and fabricatedinto surface mount device types so as to be directly mounted to PrintedCircuit Boards (PCBs). Accordingly, LED lamps are also developed intosurface mount device types. Such surface mount device type LED lamps canreplace the conventional simple configuration of lamps with uses inlighting displays, text displays and image displays in various colors.

As the usage of LEDs has expanded as described above, the amounts ofluminance required for the lamps for daily use and lamps for emergencysignals and the like have increased, which led to recent extensive useof high power LED packages. For example, the high power LED packagesincrease the light outputs with a plurality of LED chips mountedtherein.

FIGS. 1( a) and (b) are a plan view and a sectional view illustrating aconventional high power LED package. Referring to FIGS. 1( a) and (b),the high power LED package 10 includes a package body 11, a first leadframe 12, a second lead frame 13, a plurality of LED chips 15 mounted onthe first lead frame 12, and bonding wires 16 electrically connectingthe plurality of LED chips 15. The package body 11 has a reflector 14surrounding the entire plurality of LED chips 15, and the reflector 14has an inclined inner side. The light emitted in lateral directions fromeach of the plurality of LED chips 15 is reflected at the inner side ofthe reflector 14 to be emitted through the upper part of the LED package10.

However, in the conventional LED package 10, only one inclined reflector14 is formed to surround the plurality of LED chips, and thus the lightbeams emitted from the adjacent LED chips interfere with each other,degrading the light extraction efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems ofthe prior art and therefore an aspect of the present invention is toprovide a high power LED package which prevents interference of lightbeams among adjacent LED chips, thereby effectively increasing the lightextraction efficiency, and a method of producing the same.

According to an aspect of the invention, the invention provides a highpower LED package, which includes: a plurality of light emitting diodechips; a first lead frame with the plurality of light emitting diodechips mounted thereon and a second lead frame disposed apart at apredetermined interval from the first lead frame; a package body fixingthe first and second lead frames; and bonding wires for electricallyconnecting the plurality of light emitting diode chips, wherein thepackage body comprises at least one first reflecting part separatelysurrounding each of the plurality of light emitting diode chips withupward-inclined inner side walls thereof, and a second reflecting partsurrounding the entire plurality of light emitting diode chips with anupward-inclined inner side wall thereof.

Preferably, the first lead frame includes a planar base and an extensionextending from an edge of the base. In addition, the package body mayexpose a portion of undersurface of the base of the first lead frame.

The high power light emitting diode package may further include a resinencapsulant for encapsulating the plurality of light emitting diodechips. Preferably, the resin encapsulant is made of one selected fromthe group consisting of a silicone-based resin, an epoxy resin, aurethane-based resin and mixtures thereof. In addition, the resinencapsulant may contain phosphor.

Preferably, the bonding wires may extend over upper parts of the firstreflecting part to electrically connect the adjacent ones of the lightemitting diode chips.

According to another aspect of the invention, the invention provides amethod of producing a high power LED package. The method includespreparing a first lead frame and a second lead frame; injection-moldinga resin to surround the first and second lead frames to form a packagebody fixing the first and second lead frames, the package bodycomprising at least one first reflecting part surrounding predeterminedportions on the first lead frame with upward-inclined inner side wallsthereof, and a second reflecting part surrounding the at least one firstreflecting part with an upward-inclined inner side wall thereof;mounting a plurality of light emitting diode chips on the first leadframe so as to be surrounded by the first reflecting part; electricallyconnecting the plurality of light emitting diode chips with bondingwires; and encapsulating the plurality of light emitting diode chipswith a resin encapsulant.

The step of electrically connecting the plurality of light emittingdiode chips with bonding wires may include extending bonding wires overupper parts of the first reflecting part to electrically connect theadjacent ones of the light emitting diode chips.

The first lead frame may include a planar base and an extensionextending from an edge of the base.

The package body forming step may include forming the base of the firstlead frame such that a portion of undersurface of the base of the firstlead frame is exposed.

Preferably, the resin encapsulant is made of one selected from the groupconsisting of a silicone-based resin, an epoxy resin, a urethane-basedresin, and mixtures thereof, and the resin encapsulant may containphosphor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGS. 1( a) and (b) are a plan view and a sectional view illustrating aconventional high power LED package;

FIG. 2( a) and (b) are a plan view and a sectional view illustrating ahigh power LED package according to the present invention; and

FIGS. 3 a to 3 e are sectional views illustrating a method of producingthe high power LED package according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention mayhowever be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the drawings, the shapes and dimensions may beexaggerated for clarity and the same reference numerals are usedthroughout to designate the same or like components.

FIGS. 2( a) and (b) are a plan view and a sectional view illustrating ahigh power LED package 100 according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 2( a) and (b), the high power LED package 100according to the present invention includes a plurality of LED chips105, a first lead frame 102, a second lead frame 103, a package body 101having at least one first reflecting part 107 and a second reflectingpart 104, bonding wires 106 and a resin encapsulant 108 forencapsulating the plurality of the LED chips 105.

The package body 101 serves to fix the first and second lead frames 102and 103, and can be formed by injection-molding a resin around the firstand second lead frames 102 and 103. The package body 101 has the atleast one first reflecting part 107 separately surrounding each of theplurality of LED chips 105 and the second reflecting part 104surrounding the entire plurality of LED chips 105.

The first reflecting part 107 is formed to separately surround each ofthe plurality of LED chips 105 mounted on the first lead frame 102, andthe second reflecting part 104 is formed to surround the entireplurality of LED chips 105. The second reflecting part 104 is not formedin correspondence with each of the LED chips 105, but is an overallstructure for focusing and emitting light from the entire LED package100. The first and second reflecting parts 107 and 104 are inclinedupward. Therefore, the light emitted in lateral directions from the LEDchips 105 is reflected by the first reflecting part 107 and emittedthrough the upper part of the LED package 100. In addition, the lightbeams from the entire package, i.e., reflected by the first reflectingpart 107 or directly emitted from the LED chips 105 are focused by thesecond reflecting part 104. The light extraction efficiency of theentire LED package 100 is significantly enhanced by such first andsecond reflecting parts 107 and 104.

In addition, surrounding each of the plurality of LED chips 105, thefirst reflecting part 107 thus prevents the problematic interferencebetween the light beams among the adjacent LED chips, which degradeslight extraction efficiency.

The first lead frame 102 and the second lead frame 103 are metal platesfunctioning as leads for connecting the LED chips to a circuit outsideand for fixing the LED package to a circuit board outside the package.The first and second lead frames 102 and 103 have excellent electricconductivity and elongation ratio, and can be made of a highlyreflective metal so as to reflect the light from the LED chips 105 tothe upper part of the LED package 100. Preferably, they can be made ofAg or Cu, or by Ag plating. The first lead frame 102 may be composed ofa planar base 102 a and an extension 102 b extending from an edge of thebase 102 a. The plurality of LED chips 105 can be mounted on the base102 a. The plurality of LED chips 105 can be fixed on the first leadframe 102 by an adhesive means such as an Ag epoxy or an eutecticsolder. The package body 101 can be formed to expose a part ofundersurface of the first lead frame base 102 a. With this configurationof the lead frame and the package body, the heat generated from theplurality of LED chips 105 can be effectively radiated. The extension102 b is formed in a width smaller than that of the base 102 a but isnot limited thereto. The second lead frame 103 is disposed apart at apredetermined interval from the first lead frame 102, and forms apackage electrode of a polarity opposite from that of the first leadframe 102.

Each of the LED chips 105 can be made of a material that satisfiesconditions such as presence of a light emission wavelength in a visibleor near ultra-violet ray region, high light emission efficiency andfeasibility of p-n junction. Such materials may include compoundsemiconductors such as GaN, GaAs, GaP, GaAs_(1-x)P_(x),Ga_(1-x)Al_(x)As, InP, In_(1-x)Ga_(x)P, etc.

The bonding wires 106 are components for connecting and transmittingelectric signals between the first lead frame 102 and the LED chips,between the second lead frame 103 and the LED chips or between theadjacent LED chips. The bonding wires 106 can be made of Cu, Au or Au—Agalloys. As each of the plurality of LED chips 105 is surrounded by thefirst reflecting part 107, the bonding wires 106 can extend over upperparts of the first reflecting part 107 to electrically connect theadjacent LED chips.

The resin encapsulant 108 is formed in a cavity defined by the secondreflector 104 to encapsulate the plurality of LED chips 105. The resinencapsulant 108 can be made of one selected from the group consisting ofan epoxy resin, a silicone-based resin and mixtures thereof. The resinencapsulant 108 can be injected through a known process such as adispensing process.

The resin encapsulant 108 may contain phosphor (not shown). The phosphoris a material that absorbs and emits light generated from the LED chips105 or absorbs and emits light generated from another phosphor. The LEDchips can produce blue, green or red according to the types ofimpurities. Therefore, white light can be produced from combinations ofLED chips and phosphor. For example, a blue LED chip can be combinedwith yellow or red/green phosphor to produce white light. Also, anultra-violet LED chip can be combined with red/green/blue phosphor toproduce white light. Further, red, green and blue LED chips can becombined to produce white light. Blue phosphor includes ZnS:Ag,ZnS:Ag+In₂O₃, ZnS:Zn+In₂O₃ and (Ba, Eu) MgAl₁₀O₁₇, green phosphorincludes ZnS:Cu, Y₂Al₅O₁₂:Tb and Y₂O₂S:Tb, and red phosphor includesY₂O₂S:Eu, Y₂O₃:Eu and YVO₄:Eu. In addition, yellow phosphor includesYAG:Ge and YAG:Ce.

The resin encapsulant 108 may include a scattering material or adiffuser mixed therein. The light is scattered or diffused by thescattering material or the diffuser dispersed in the resin encapsulant108, thereby achieving broader light characteristics.

FIGS. 3 a to 3 e are sectional views illustrating a method of producingthe high power LED package according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

First, as shown in FIG. 3 a, a first lead frame 102 and a second leadframe 103 are prepared. The first lead frame 102 adopted in thisembodiment has a planar base 102 a and an extension 102 b extending froman edge of the base, and the second lead frame 103 formed in a widthsmaller than that of the first lead frame 102. A plurality of LED chipsare mounted on the planar base 102 a. The first and second lead frames102 and 103 have excellent electric conductivity and elongation ratios,and can be made of a highly reflective material. Preferably, they can bemade of Ag plating, Ag or Cu.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3 b, a resin is injection-molded around the firstand second lead frames 102 and 103 to obtain a package body 101. Morespecifically, the first and second lead frames 102 and 103 are insertedin a mold and the resin is injected into the mold to form the packagebody 101. The package body 101 has at least one upward-inclined firstreflecting part 107 surrounding predetermined portions on the first leadframe 102, and a second reflecting part 104 surrounding the entire firstreflecting part 107. Inner sides of the first and second reflectingparts 107 and 104 are all inclined upward. The package body 101according to an embodiment of the present invention can be formed toexpose a part of undersurface of the first lead frame base 102 a. Thatis, as shown in FIG. 3 b, an undersurface of the base 102 a can beexposed through undersurface of the package body 101.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3 c, the plurality of LED chips 105 are mountedon the first lead frame 102. Each of the plurality of LED chips 105 ismounted to be surrounded by the first reflecting part 107 formed on thefirst lead frame 102. This allows reducing the interference of lightbeams generated among the adjacent LED chips 105 by the first reflectingparts 107. In addition, the light generated from each of the pluralityof LED chips 105 is reflected by the first reflecting part and emittedthrough the upper part of the LED package. The light beams from theentire package, i.e., reflected by the first reflecting part 107 anddirectly emitted from the LED chips 105 are focused by the secondreflecting part 104 surrounding the entire LED chips.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3 d, the plurality of LED chips are electricallyconnected by the bonding wires 106. Each of the plurality of LED chips105 has an n-electrode (not shown) and a p-electrode (not shown). Usingthe bonding wires 106, an n-electrode of an LED chip is bonded to ap-electrode of another adjacent LED chip. Each of the plurality of LEDchips 105 is surrounded by the first reflecting part 107, and thus thebonding wires 106 can extend over upper part of the first reflectingpart 107 to electrically connect between the LED chips.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 3 e, the plurality of LED chips areencapsulated by the resin encapsulant 108. The resin encapsulant can bemade of one selected from the group consisting of a silicone resin, anepoxy resin, an urethane-based resin and mixtures thereof. The resinencapsulant 108 can be injected through a known process such as adispensing process. In addition, the resin encapsulant 108 can includephosphor therein.

According to the present invention set forth above, a plurality of LEDchips are mounted on one lead frame, and at least one first reflectingpart separately surrounding each of the plurality of LED chips and asecond reflecting part surrounding the entire LED chips are formed. Thisprevents interference of the light beams among the adjacent LED chipsand focuses light generated from the LED chips, thereby significantlyincreasing light extraction efficiency.

While the present invention has been shown and described in connectionwith the exemplary embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that modifications and variations can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A method of producing a high power light emittingdiode package comprising: preparing a first lead frame and a second leadframe; injection-molding a resin to surround the first and second leadframes to form a package body fixing the first and second lead frames,the package body comprising at least one first reflecting partsurrounding predetermined portions on the first lead frame withupward-inclined inner side walls thereof, and a second reflecting partsurrounding the at least one first reflecting part with anupward-inclined inner side wall thereof; mounting a plurality of lightemitting diode chips on the first lead frame so as to be surrounded bythe first reflecting part; electrically connecting the plurality oflight emitting diode chips with bonding wires; and encapsulating theplurality of light emitting diode chips with a resin encapsulant.
 9. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein the resin encapsulant comprises oneselected from the group consisting of a silicone-based resin, an epoxyresin, a urethane-based resin, and mixtures thereof.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the resin encapsulant comprises phosphor.11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the electrically connectingthe plurality of light emitting diode chips with bonding wires comprisesextending bonding wires over upper parts of the first reflecting part toelectrically connect the adjacent ones of the light emitting diodechips.
 12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first lead framecomprises a planar base and an extension extending from an edge of thebase.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the forming apackage body comprises forming the base of the first lead frame suchthat a portion of undersurface of the base of the first lead frame isexposed.